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Francisco Gella’s career as a successful choreographer and dance educator proves that his philosophy of combining the commercial and artistic aspects of the dance world is sought out by many prestigious professional organizations.
Mr. Gella has choreographed for Pennsylvania Ballet's Shut-Up and Dance production, and has set pieces on PHILADANCO’s Danco on Danco Program, Danco/II, Ballet East of Austin, Texas, Tucson Regional Ballet, Reflections Dance Company of Washington, D.C., Ballet Pacifica, California Ballet, the University of Utah Ballet Ensemble and the University of Washington Dance Program. Other choreographic credits include two highly acclaimed duets performed at the Laguna Dance Festival directed by Jodie Gates. His work for South Bay Ballet entitled “Configured Echoes” garnered the Best Choreography Award for the Pacific Region at the National Regional Dance America Conference. Francisco choreographed a solo entitled “Tango en Pointe” which was performed for the Presidential Scholars Gala held at the Kennedy Center. Mr. Gella has been a finalist multiple times for the MacCallum Theater’s Dance Under the Stars Choreography Festival and he has also created several award-winning contemporary solos for the Youth America Grand Prix ballet competition. He was recently awarded the Outstanding Choreographer Award at the 2011 Youth America Grand Prix Competition in Los Angeles. Mr. Gella was the assistant choreographer of Patricia Zhou’s solo featured on Dancing with the Stars.
Mr. Gella has been a guest instructor with SUNY Binghamton Summer Dance Institute, Extravadanza in Montreal, Canada, West Coast Dance Academy, Lula Washington Dance Company and School, California Ballet Conservatory, Ballet Pacifica Conservatory, Festival Ballet, Tucson Regional Ballet, Long Beach Ballet Summer Intensive, California Dance Theater Summer Intensive and the Orange County High School for the Arts. In addition, he taught master classes at numerous prestigious colleges and universities while on tour with the Philadelphia Dance Company. Francisco was on faculty for 4 years with Coastal Dance Rage, co-owners Blake McGrath & Shannon Mather’s dance convention which tours all over Canada and the United States.
Mr. Gella has been a company member with the Philadelphia Dance Company aka PHILADANCO, Repertory Dance Theater of Salt Lake City, UT., Spectrum Dance Theater of Seattle, WA., the Chamber Dance Company, Leaving/Ground Dance, California Ballet and Ballet Pacifica. He was part of the National Choreographers Initiative two years in a row, performed at the Closing Ceremonies in the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics in Japan, a worldwide broadcasted event, as a principal soloist and was featured in a PBS: Dance in America Special in Daniel Ezralow’s holiday satirical work entitled the “X-mas Philes” (Mr. Ezralow is also the choreographer of Cirque du Soleil’s, The Beatle’s LOVE).
Born in Bacolod City, Philippines, Francisco first began dancing in college at the age of 19 and graduated with a B.A. in Dance from the University of Washington in Seattle. Prior to dancing, he was a competitive trained gymnast for 8 years.
